A woman who left her goddaughter with a man who police said abused the 17-month-old so brutally that she later died spoke out on Wednesday.

Rio Arriba County investigators call it a horrific case of child abuse at the hands of 24-year-old Nathan Montoya.

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"They told me to go back to the Sheriff's Office, and that's when they told me she didn't make it and there were signs of abuse," Edwardine Fernandez said.

Fernandez said she left for work on Tuesday and left 17-month-old Breandra Pena with Montoya, Fernandez's boyfriend. Fernandez said the couple often watched the child.

"I've never known or seen any signs of abuse," Fernandez said. "I felt comfortable leaving her with him."

The Rio Arriba County Sheriff's Office said Montoya called 911, saying Breandra wasn't responding. She later died.

Doctors said she had severe head injuries, bruises on her body and two bald spots on her head where hair had been ripped out. Doctors also said Breandra had signs of sexual abuse.

"She was an adorable little girl. She would hear music and like to dance," Fernandez said.

Officials said Montoya told them that the child fell in the tub and later, during a nap, began choking on a cup of milk. He later admitted that he slapped the child hard, grabbed her by the ears and shook and squeezed her head for 30 seconds.

Fernandez said she doesn't know what to think of the man who she has been with for four years -- a man who she let watch her own son.

"I'm just so disgusted with the fact and in shock, and sad," she said.

Montoya has a criminal past. In 2006, he was arrested on charges of sexual penetration of a minor. Two years later, in a plea deal, he pleaded guilty to the lesser offense of criminal sexual contact with a minor with force and did not have to register as a sex offender.

Fernandez said she was aware of her boyfriend's past, but she said he told her the charges were dealing with a teenage girl who falsely accused him.

Montoya is charged with child abuse resulting in death and tampering with evidence. His bond was set at $1 million in cash only.